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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The voice between soprano and alto. Also - in sheet music - a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.






2. The major and minor keys that share the same notes in that key.For example: A minor shares the same note as C major.






3. The retuning of a stringed instrument in order to play notes below the ordinary range of the instrument or to produce an usual tone color.






4. Repetition of a single tone.






5. Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it.






6. The frequency of a note determining how high or low it sounds.






7. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






8. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






9. The element of music pertaining to time - played as a grouping of notes into accented and unaccented beats.






10. A 17th century dance written in Quadruple time - always beginning on the third beat of the measure.






11. A canon where the melody is sung in two or more voices. After the first voice begins - the next voice starts singing after a couple of measures are played in the preceding voice. All parts repeat continuously.






12. A form of Italian opera beginning at the end of the 19th century. The setting is contemporary to the composer's own time - and the characters are modeled after every day life.






13. A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.






14. Dull - monotonous tone such as a humming or buzzing sound. Also a bass note held under a melody.






15. A person with notable technical skill in the performance of music.






16. The piece of cane in wind instruments. The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound.






17. One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark - melancholic mood.






18. Music written for a lively French dance for two performers written in triple time.






19. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






20. Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.






21. Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.






22. A single line of music played or sung. A musical sentence.






23. A set of six musicians who perform a composition written for six parts.






24. Music written to be sung or played in unison.






25. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played grandly.






26. Dull - monotonous tone such as a humming or buzzing sound. Also a bass note held under a melody.






27. The first tone of a scale also known as a keynote.






28. A canon where the melody is sung in two or more voices. After the first voice begins - the next voice starts singing after a couple of measures are played in the preceding voice. All parts repeat continuously.






29. A style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords - the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female.






30. A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.






31. When several strings are tuned to harmonically related pitches - all strings vibrate when only one of the strings is struck.






32. The voice between soprano and alto. Also - in sheet music - a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.






33. The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument.






34. In sheet music - an instruction to repeat the beginning of the piece before stopping on the final chord.






35. One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive affirming character.






36. A loose collection of instrumental compositions.






37. A mild glissando between two notes for an expressive effect.






38. A successive transposition and repetition of a phrase at different pitches.






39. Quick repetition of the same note or the rapid alternation between two notes.






40. A 19th century square dance written for 4 couples.






41. Piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or opera.






42. The unit of measure where the beats on the lines of the staff are divided up into two - three - four beats to a measure.






43. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






44. A short and simple melody performed by a soloist that is part of a larger piece.






45. A reprise.






46. A line in a contrapuntal work performed by an individual voice or instrument.






47. Convenient method of numbering a composer's works where a number follows the word 'opus'.For example - Opus 28 - No. 4.






48. The first violin in an orchestra.






49. Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto - featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.






50. Closing section of a movement.